Writing content is one of the most important tasks when developing or updating your website - but it is also one of the most difficult. With that in mind, we thought we'd share our tips for writing great web copy.

Why would visitors come to my website?

How many websites have you visited that look amazing, but don’t provide the information you need?  When writing content for your website, think like a customer.  What will they want to know about your business and your product or service?

Some of the questions customers might ask include:

• How will the product /service benefit me and solve my particular problem or need?
• What are the features?
• What is the cost?
• Where do I find the product or the business?
• How do I use the product?
• Can I trust this company?

Content is King!

The key to a successful website is to provide relevant, interesting and up to date information which will keep your visitors coming back! However, coming up with new content on a regular basis is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for many clients when developing a new website.

1. Write for your customers/website visitors first (before worrying about the search engines).

Your website needs to not only attract but also keep your visitors (you have all of about 5 seconds to encourage them to stay!!). You can have all the search engines in the world sending people your way, but if the website doesn’t make sense to these visitors, then it is a waste of time and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

2. Search Engines: Key Words.

After you have written the content, it is a good idea to then go through and add keywords throughout the headings and text. This will help the search engines to direct the visitors that you want to your website.

Look at each individual page on your website and decide on a maximum of 2 or 3 keywords or phrases for each page, and use these throughout the page. Be careful to not change the meaning of the content while adding extra words.
Make sure these keywords are also reflected in your page title.

For more information on how to do this, read our article Where to Start with Keywords. 

3. Write your content as if you are talking to one person.

Hopefully, you will have many people visit your website, but each person that reads what you have written wants to feel as though you are talking directly to them.

4. Put important information at the start.

In the fast-paced world of the internet – you only have a few seconds to capture a visitor’s attention before they move onto the next website.

5. Make sure your headline has your key message in it.

6. Keep it simple – use:

• short paragraphs and sentences
• simple or familiar language – avoid jargon
• subheadings
• concise text
• bold font, and
• dot points to make the text easy to scan

We have only just got started on our tips for writing content. You can read the rest of our tips for writing great content here. Or share your tips with us below.